


The Man Who Loved His Wife

by LadyAllieLeigh



Category: Timeless (TV 2016)
Genre: Embarrassment, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Movie Night, Mutual Pining, Realization
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 08:00:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21940111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyAllieLeigh/pseuds/LadyAllieLeigh
Summary: Lucy, Flynn, and Rufus learn the hard way the consequences of not following up on the changes they've made to history.  Though sudden, awkward realizations at how history remembers them, especially Lucy and Flynn, may be the best thing that has ever happened to them.
Relationships: Garcia Flynn & Lucy Preston, Garcia Flynn/Lucy Preston, Rufus Carlin/Jiya
Comments: 10
Kudos: 91





	The Man Who Loved His Wife

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Holidays to the wonderful, amazing NancyDfan! This story was actually inspired by one of her tweets so I could not have ended up with a better Secret Santa Assignment - enjoy!
> 
> Thank you to Burgundy_In_Chaucer for her amazing suggestions and proof reading (any remaining typos are purely my fault - I'm incapable of submitting a piece of writing without a typo - scientific fact).

The movie marathon had been Rufus’ idea. 

Lucy had tried to get out of it. She really had. The entire team distracted with endless hours of cheesy Halloween movies? What better opportunity to hunker down with her research? Emma’s new strategy was keeping them on their toes and Lucy was sick with how utterly useless she’d felt on missions.

_…if I just try a little harder…know more…_

But her excuse was shot down immediately, and quite terrifyingly, by Jiya. Lucy had looked to Flynn for backup ( _surely Flynn of all people would not want to spend extended bonding time with the entire team?_ ) but surprisingly, he had backed Jiya. 

“Come on Lucy, we’re stuck in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do. There will still be nothing to do after Halloween. History isn’t going anywhere.” Flynn smiled sheepishly at Lucy’s pointed glare. Lucy just raised an eyebrow in response. 

But Flynn wasn’t exactly wrong - there really was very little for them to do in the tiny abandoned farmhouse tucked away in some forgotten part of one of those Midwest states that was their current safehouse and base of operations. 

Flynn’s rare joking mood quickly melted away. He took her hand, catching her eyes with his. Lucy felt her shoulders relax. “It’s just one day, even geniuses like us need a break.” Lucy had a hard time holding his gaze - Flynn’s tone may have been mimicking his lighter one from just a moment earlier, but the smile behind it didn’t quite reach his eyes. Instead, he looked…concerned…and it was too much. 

Lucy cleared her throat to break the sudden tension at the silence growing between them. “Fine,” she said, hearing herself sound like a petulant child. 

And that was that. The movie marathon was a go. 

Jiya threw herself into planning the whole day down to decorations and themed food. Rufus had only been back for about a month and Jiya had been quite…enthusiastic… about supporting Rufus…and protecting Rufus, taking care of Rufus, spending time with Rufus, feeding Rufus…just really anything Rufus related. The call to Agent Christopher requesting all the necessary supplies to pull off Jiya’s version of a Halloween bash in the middle of nowhere was entertaining to say the least. Lucy felt a little vindication when Agent Christopher caved to Jiya’s demands quite quickly despite the extra hassle of getting the extra supplies out to them. In the end, Agent Christopher had kindly (under threat of bodily harm by Jiya) included a modest amount of Halloween decorations, a large selection of movies on DVD, bite size Halloween candy, some pumpkin beer, and ingredients to make some Halloween themed food in their mid-month supply delivery for October.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Lucy was woken earlier than she very much would have liked on Halloween morning by the sound of some sort of commotion coming from the kitchen. She practically launched herself out of bed after being startled out of her sleep, fearing an attack. But all she managed to achieve was tangling herself in her sheets and falling quite ungracefully out of bed. Flynn, who’d been coming in the door of their shared bedroom, was only just able to avoid stepping on Lucy and spilling their coffee all over them. 

Until about a month ago, Lucy had shared the larger of the two small bedrooms on the second floor with Jiya. However, after they’d managed to save Rufus, Lucy had graciously offered to move out, so to speak, again. Jiya and Rufus had given half-hearted objections with Rufus gamely offering to bunk with Flynn. Connor also offered to go bunk with Flynn but the thunderous look on Rufus’ face at the implication that he would then be rooming with Wyatt nipped that suggestion in the bud without another word being uttered. Lucy had assured them that she’d be fine – the couch here was much more comfortable than the one in the bunker. She tried not to let it bother her that once again, she was the odd man out, so to speak. 

Flynn had learned of the new sleeping arrangements when he found Lucy setting up her makeshift bed on the couch that night and seemed to just freeze, like he was buffering. His silence and unwavering stare had sent Lucy into a fit of nervous babbling, explaining the whole room shifting situation. She’d been cut off mid-sentence at some point by a forceful “no.” Flynn had then walked over to the couch and practically torn the sheet and blankets off. Within an hour Flynn had single handedly (except for a brief intervention by Lucy to stop Flynn from gathering up the contents of her underwear drawer) moved all of Lucy’s belongings from Jiya’s room into his. The only explanation Lucy got was some vague statement that the living room was too “exposed.” 

So, Lucy had moved in with Flynn. This was not the first time she’d felt quite embarrassed around him. 

By the time Lucy had righted herself and settled back onto her bed with one of the cups of coffee from Flynn, the commotion in the main living space seemed to have died down some. Apparently, according to Flynn, Jiya had decided to start decorating early…with the help of Wyatt. Lucy had winced at hearing that. Jiya had not exactly been Wyatt’s biggest fan lately. 

Despite the earlier ruckus, by the time the marathon was set to start, Jiya (and Wyatt) had managed to decorate the small living room to the nines with the cheap Halloween decorations and put together a quite impressive assortment of Halloween themed food. Lucy had to admit, Jiya’s efforts to make Rufus’ first Halloween back from the dead perfect were actually putting her in the Halloween spirit. And to top it off, Wyatt, to his credit, was actually keeping quiet about his involvement in setting everything up. _Baby steps, right_?

The marathon started off innocently enough with _Hocus Pocus_. Connor and Lucy had never seen it which caused quite an uproar at the start, though Lucy got the brunt of it. The team was willing to give Connor a pass since he grew up in England but Lucy never seeing it was apparently _quite_ unforgivable. 

“I mean, even Flynn’s seen it,” Jiya teased from the loveseat she was sharing with Rufus. The two of them were bundled up under one of the threadbare blankets that had come with the old house. Despite the intimate set-up, there was still a bit more space between them than there would have been pre-Chinatown.

Lucy kept a smile on her face during the ribbing by the team, but it was slightly strained. The things she had missed out on in life, like not seeing _Hocus Pocus_ or not going to her own prom, tended to remind her of her mother. Surprisingly, Flynn jumped at the chance to enter the conversation at the mention of his name. He made some sassy comment about Croatia having access to pop culture. This had the effect of shutting down the group pile on of faux outrage. Lucy felt the tension in her shoulders lessen. 

Flynn nodded slightly at Lucy as Jiya pressed play. Lucy suddenly felt warm. She couldn’t stop a smile from spreading across her face. It dropped quickly though when she noticed Wyatt staring at her, a strange look on his face. She ignored him, forcing herself to focus on the movie instead. The movie was cheesy as hell but so, so fun. Lucy was thoroughly enjoying herself, her anxiety about Emma and Rittenhouse temporarily muted.

The second movie was _Halloween_. Surprisingly they had all seen it. Lucy didn’t like horror films but kept her desire to skip the movie to herself. She ended up being glad she decided to stick it out because a very welcome side effect was Flynn drifting further from the center of the couch where he’d been stationed until finally Lucy was able to easily hide her face in his shoulder when needed. By the end of the movie, Flynn was sitting so close to Lucy, they were nearly touching. The longer shadows cast by the afternoon sun helped hide the pink tinge to both their cheeks.

The next movie was _Practical Magic_. This was a movie Lucy had seen. She’d watched it at one of the rare sleepovers she’d been allowed to attend when she was a teenager. Flynn and Wyatt hadn’t seen it. Lucy huffed at the less stringent ribbing both men got from the group than what Lucy and Connor had endured over _Hocus Pocus_. Lucy pretend pouted. Flynn’s laugh and smile in response briefly lit up the whole room. Lucy couldn’t help but smile back. Though, she very purposefully avoided eye contact with Wyatt after, feeling his eyes boring into her from across the room. 

Jiya had pointed out almost immediately upon his introduction that Jimmy Angelov looked quite a bit like a younger Garcia Flynn. Flynn tensed up at the comparison. 

“Chill out Flynn – it’s not like you’re anything like Jimmy Angelov.”

“Besides the looks,” added Connor, almost absent mindedly. He didn’t seem to notice the looks the rest of the group were giving him…well most of the group. Lucy was looking at Wyatt. As the movie progressed, it became very clear that Wyatt was in some sort of mood. They’d all been making an effort to ignore it so maybe it was her proximity to him sitting on the end of the couch near him, but Lucy seemed to be the only one that heard the extremely rude comment he’d made about Flynn and Jimmy Angelov under his breath. 

Wyatt sensed her gaze. Incredibly, he held her gaze quite steadily as she stared at him in furious disbelief. Wyatt took a slow, almost taunting sip of his beer. Lucy’s heart was racing. It was like he was daring her to react. 

Abruptly, Lucy stood up. With clipped steps, she headed for the kitchen. And, well, if Wyatt needed to suddenly go change his shirt after “spilling” his beer on himself, Lucy had no comment.

When Wyatt came to sit back down after changing his shirt and mopping up the spilled beer on the floor, Lucy couldn’t help but look him dead in the eye as she took a slow sip of the water she’d grabbed from the kitchen to cover her tracks. Wyatt, smartly, kept his mouth shut. 

There was a collective group stretch and recharge before the fourth movie. Jiya jumped up to check on the cookies she’d put in 10 minutes earlier. Connor followed her to the kitchen, grabbing another drink and some snacks. Flynn got up as well. His hand on her shoulder slightly startled Lucy – she’d been distracted by her lingering anger and frustration at Wyatt during the remainder of the movie. She craned her head to look up at him, hoping her slight blush wasn’t evident. 

“Do you want anything to drink?” Flynn asked, almost shy.

“Um…sure – I’ll have another beer…and a cookie?” The warm smile Flynn gave her at that last bit threatened to undo her.

“I’ll get it,” Wyatt chimed in, moving to get out of his chair. His sudden injection into her conversation with Flynn threw Lucy off.

_Really? After what he said about Flynn during the movie?_

“That’s alright,” Flynn smoothly replied, his longer legs and closer proximity to the kitchen placing him ahead of Wyatt in the now apparent contest to get her a beer. For one glorious moment Flynn’s hand on her shoulder had helped Lucy forget about Wyatt. But now, she suddenly felt anxious.

As Flynn and Wyatt walked away, she noticed Rufus looking at her.

“What?”

For a long moment Rufus looked like he was going to say something but then he shook his head. “Nothing,” he responded as he leaned over to study the stack of DVDs on the coffee table. Lucy walked over to help him choose. He picked up a DVD and showed it to Lucy. It was called _The Curse of the Witch_. 

“Ever heard of this one?” Lucy shook her head. Rufus turned the box over and started reading the description to himself as Lucy perused the rest of the titles. He clearly had not read much before he exclaimed, “It’s about the Salem Witch Revolt!” That got Lucy’s attention. 

“A 90s campy horror movie about the Salem Witch revolt – we’re not not watching this. Ten bucks says one of us is mentioned or has a character named after us,” Rufus joked.

Lucy was startled by the fact that she hadn’t even thought of that. In fact, she really hadn’t thought much about the historical implications of what they’d done in Salem since…well, Salem. Guilt flooded her.

_How have I not followed up on such a huge change to history?!_

The rising feeling of inadequacy that treated to overtake her was thankfully interrupted by Rufus saying, “Let’s give it a try.”

“Sure,” she responded, shrugging. “At the very least, it will be fun to mock all the historical inaccuracies,” she tried to joke.

“Ya, especially since we lived it.”

The others were still in the kitchen filling up on snacks and waiting for the cookies to cool. Rufus called out that they were starting the next movie and popped it in. The rest of the group slowly trickled in, Flynn first with a drink and three cookies for Lucy, followed by Connor and Wyatt. Jiya was still finishing up in the kitchen. Wyatt and Connor asked what movie they’d chosen. Rufus told them, bringing up that it was about Salem. Neither had seen it, though Wyatt had heard of it.

“What about you Flynn?”

Flynn shook his head in response.

As the opening credits played in typical 90s movie style, Wyatt filled them in on what little he knew about the film. Johnny Depp had originally been cast as the star but backed out to be in _Sleepy Hollow_. The direction of the film changed at that point and Joshua Jackson got the part of the dashing hero of the story, Isaiah, instead. Lucy felt a tingling of unease. Flynn shifted slightly beside her. 

_Wasn’t Isaiah the name Flynn had given Abby Folger when they’d met her in the forest?_

Lucy was quickly distracted from this train of thought though when movie Isaiah went to meet with Reverend Willard. Reverend Willard wanted to convince Isaiah to travel to Salem to help ensure the witches were properly dealt with (i.e. hanged by the neck until dead).

“Historically inaccurate,” Lucy huffed under her breath, incensed. Flynn gave her thigh a quick squeeze, chuckling lowly under his breath. Lucy barely registered Jiya returning to the room with a plate of cookies in her arms. Her whole body was on fire. 

“Wait, we aren’t watching _The Curse of the Witch_ are we?”

“You’ve seen it?” Rufus asked? “No one else here has.”

“Of course _I’ve_ seen it. It’s a cult classic. But are you sure we should be watching it? Don’t you know what it’s about?” She glanced at Lucy and Flynn then, looking oddly uncomfortable. Lucy felt the unease return. What was going on?

“Ya, it’s about the Salem Witch trials, I mean revolt. Lucy and I thought it would be funny to watch and roast it for all the historical inaccuracies and Lucy’s already pointed out one. Should we make a drinking game out of it?”

“But-” Jiya tried to inject, ignoring Rufus’ suggestion.

“Shhhh,” interrupted Connor quite loudly. “You’re missing it.”

Jiya tried to speak up again but Connor just shushed her more forcefully and Rufus gently pulled her down beside him, holding her close. This distracted her enough to cut off her protests. When Lucy refocused on the movie, she was confused. Isaiah was now on his way to Salem, presumably, but he was not alone. A young woman, played by Eliza Dushku, was riding with him, wearing a very low-cut dress.

“It’s like they didn’t even try for any semblance of historical accuracy.”

“Drink,” Rufus responded.

“Well she’s clearly a witch,” added Connor, nodding at the screen. It was immediately clear what made him think that – the woman had a black cat with her.

“And it’s a cheesy pseudo horror movie from the 90s,” added Rufus. “I doubt historically accuracy was high on their list.”

As things progressed, it was quickly revealed that the young woman’s cat was actually a man…named Rufus. The unease was back. A woman and a black man traveling with someone with more…access… on their way to Salem on the behest of Reverend Willard? 

Flynn shifted again next to her and Rufus suddenly wasn’t so lighthearted. After his initial mutterings about racist tropes, he seemed to realize the implications of what he was seeing on screen. He kept shooting Lucy and Flynn slightly freaked out looks, especially once the three characters met Abby Folger in the dark, very creepy fog filled woods. Introductions were made and the young woman, who’d been previously introduced as Miss Harwood, finally revealed her first name – Lucy. 

Lucy felt like the air had gone out of the room.

“Jiya…” she whispered.

“Nope. Absolutely not.” Rufus was up on his feet now.

Flynn had sat up very straight at the name reveal but remained silent.

“I told you! I told you. We should never have watched this movie.”

“What the hell is going on?” Wyatt was looking back and forth between Jiya, Rufus, and Lucy.

Jiya looked around at everyone in disbelief.

“Are you serious? Do all of you seriously not know?”

Silence – confused on Wyatt and Connor’s part, bewildered on Lucy, Flynn, and Rufus’ part – was the only response she got.

In exasperation Jiya climbed to her feet. Muting the movie, she began pacing the small space in between the coffee table and the TV.

“Jiya, come on, just tell us.”

“I – I don’t even know where to begin.”

“How about begin with why this movie is apparently about Lucy, Flynn and me? I mean, with Bond it made sense. But this…” Rufus gestured vaguely at the screen. 

“Wait, timeout,” interjected Wyatt, standing as well, making a “time out” sign with his hands. “Are you saying that’s Lucy and…and Flynn? But the dude’s name is Isaiah?”

“And me,” interjected Rufus. “But ya, sure, ignore the sidekick.” Wyatt gave him a look.

“I mean, when did you guys even go to Salem?”

Every head in the room turned to look at him so quickly, they all about gave themselves whiplash.

“Dude, you’ve got to be kidding me.” Rufus was not having it.

Flynn scoffed. Lucy could practically feel him rolling his eyes.

Wyatt turned to Flynn, taking a half-step toward him. Flynn leaned forward but made no move to stand up. Lucy noticed that he’d also shifted his feet. If he needed to, he’d be perfectly angled so that he could quickly get in front of her.

“You got a problem?” Wyatt’s aggressive tone made Lucy sit straighter.

Flynn shook his head, gesturing widely. “It’s not just me.”

“Wyatt, that was the mission that-” started Lucy.

“That was the mission where we had to take Flynn because you’d decided to go AWOL and put us all in danger by going to see your Rittenhouse wife.”

“Had to take me?” muttered Flynn under his breath. Rufus just raised an eyebrow at him.

“You know what I mean,” responded Rufus, offhandedly, though he never took his eyes off Wyatt.

Wyatt, to his credit, had turned a delightful shade of red. Though, he immediately became defensive to hide his embarrassment. “There was a lot going on at that time–Jess had just-”

Jiya cut Wyatt off. “I swear Wyatt if you say one more word about Jessica, your seat in the Lifeboat will suddenly be missing a seatbelt.”

Wyatt smartly fell silent. There was a long, awkward pause.

Connor ended up breaking the silence. “Well, I for one could use another drink,” he said, making his way toward the kitchen. The rest of them just watched in silence as he shuffled around for a minute or so and then came back with a bottle of scotch and six glasses. 

“Well, go on then,” he said, gesturing to Jiya as he started to pour them all a stiff drink. “Fill us all in as to why there is a movie about Lucy, Flynn, and Rufus in Salem during the Salem Witch Revolt.”

“Oh, it’s not just one movie,” responded Jiya. Lucy nearly spilled the scotch Connor had just handed her. 

“What?” asked Rufus. 

“Ya, I mean this is just the 90s version which obviously treated the source material more of like a vague guideline. I think Hedy Lamarr starred in the first film adaptation of _In the Name of Love_.” Jiya grabbed her phone and started typing.

“Hedy Lamarr!” Lucy and Rufus exclaimed at the same time as Flynn asked, “ _In the Name of Love_?”

“Ya, _In the Name of Love_ , the play,” Jiya responded absentmindedly as she scrolled through her phone. “Yep, I was right, Hedy Lamarr played Lucy in the 1944 film.”

Lucy choked on her scotch this time. Flynn immediately turned to her to see if she was ok. Lucy could just nod as she coughed, wiping scotch off her chin. 

_Hedy Lamarr playing me?!_

“Oh! Fun fact,” continued Jiya, still reading off her phone. “Hedy was very excited about the role because she said that Lucy and Rufus reminded her of some good friends, especially Rufus. In an interview after she started her tech company she said, about the friend that reminded her of Rufus, ‘he was a man of great integrity who supported my scientific endeavors and gave me invaluable advice.’” Lucy looked over at Rufus who looked quite shell shocked. And touched. 

“This is interesting and all, but I still don’t understand why there are multiple movies about…well, about them in Salem?” Wyatt seemed keen to change the topic away from Hedy Lamarr and Lucy couldn’t blame him. That was one memory lane that she didn’t want to walk down tonight…or ever again.

“Guys, are you serious right now?” Jiya seemed beside herself. “Oh, come on, you three _started_ the Salem Witch Revolt. How could there not be movies about you?”

Lucy was speechless. She turned to look at Flynn. He stared right back, his expression unreadable. 

“Seriously?” Wyatt looked unconvinced. 

“It wasn’t known as the Salem Witch Revolt before we went on the trip.” Lucy finally spoke up. “It was called the Salem Witch trials or hunt and all those women that escaped on the final night originally were killed. Well, except for Abby Folger. She was never suspected as a witch in our timeline.” Lucy gestured to Flynn and Rufus as she said the last part. “That was my mother’s doing,” Lucy added bitterly. Lucy could tell Flynn was looking at her, but she ignored him, trying very hard not to think about the fact that her mother tried to get her hanged.

“What made you intervene? I mean, saving that many people who were supposed to die was a pretty big change to history.” Connor didn’t seem upset, just curious. His question brought Lucy back to her conversation with Flynn in the Lifeboat as he gently helped her buckle her seatbelt.

“ _You’re nothing like her, you know_?” 

Lucy felt her heart flutter at the memory. Her eyes flickered to Flynn’s left hand.

It was Rufus who answered Connor’s question. “We didn’t really have a choice. Lucy’s mother got Lucy and I arrested as witches too.” Lucy felt herself flinch, still studiously avoiding Flynn’s gaze. She felt him tense next to her though.

“Wow, some help you were Flynn. Weren’t you supposed to protect them?” Lucy thought that Wyatt’s comment had finally gone too far because Flynn shifted beside her as though he was about to stand. Thankfully Rufus responded to Wyatt’s question quickly. 

“We were outnumbered. There weren’t a lot of options.” Lucy marveled at Rufus defending Flynn. “Flynn managed to escape,” continued Rufus. “And find a gun.”

“Ya, and I was almost too late,” added Flynn. The was a slight edge of bitterness to his comment.

“You weren’t though,” Lucy turned to him, tempted to take his hand and reassure him.

His eyes locked on hers, but he quickly looked away. “You still got stabbed,” he said quietly.

“And because of you, he didn’t get a second chance,” Lucy shot back, refusing to let Flynn shoulder any blame for her getting hurt. He brought his eyes back to hers. Lucy held his gaze. Rufus’ louder than necessary throat clearing broke the spell. Lucy quickly took another sip of her scotch, her hands shaking slightly. 

“I wouldn’t have had to waste so much time finding a gun if someone hadn’t been so against me bringing a gun in the first place.” Lucy glanced over at Flynn at this. He was giving Rufus one of his sassiest, shit eating grins. Rufus glared back, though obviously not with any animosity. 

Lucy shook her head at their budding, what’s the term? Bromance. But then her gaze flickered to the movie which had been playing silently in the background. Her unease was suddenly back tenfold. She quickly looked away from the screen, hoping that no one would notice and focus on what was happening on the TV. 

“Jiya,” she started. Jiya turned toward Lucy, having previously been looking back and forth between Flynn and Rufus. Apparently she was still not quite used to their bromance either.

“Ya? What’s up?”

“Um, well this has been really interesting but, well, um…”

“Yes…?”

“You seemed really nervous about us all watching the movie when we first started it…”

“Ya…” Now Jiya seemed nervous too. Lucy glanced quickly at the screen. Her stomach seemed to fall out of her body. 

Suddenly Flynn stood up like a flash and Rufus, hands quickly covering his eyes, shouted “Oh, no. Nope.”

Jiya followed everyone’s gaze and gave a little shout, diving for the remote. In her haste to turn the TV off, instead she un-muted it. The small living room filled with gasps and sighs and rustling clothing. Jiya made a distressed sound as she continued to fumble with the remote but instead of turning it off this time, she had only succeeded at pausing the movie. The sound was immediately cut off but now the movie was paused perfectly and horrifyingly on “Isaiah” and “Lucy” in a VERY intimate embrace with Eliza Dushku’s breasts practically falling out of her extremely historically inaccurate corset.

The silence in the room was too thick to cut with a knife. 

Flynn was still standing, quite rigidly, determinedly looking anywhere but at the screen. His face was practically beet red and he didn’t seem to be breathing properly, which is to say at all. Rufus still had his hands covering his eyes, occasionally cracking his fingers to glance at the screen to see if anything had changed, letting out an extremely disgusted sound each time he realized that nothing had.

The silence continued, getting thicker by the second. Try as she might, Lucy could not tear her eyes away from the screen. 

She couldn’t stop herself from imagining…

“Could someone, um, please turn it off?” Flynn’s accent was extremely thick as he choked out the question. Jiya finally stopped struggling with the remote and finally, mercifully, pressed power. Lucy’s gasp for breath was quite noticeable in the silence that followed. When she noticed every pair of eyes on her, she knew she was blushing. Her cheeks were practically burning. Flynn quickly looked away from her.

Jiya awkwardly cleared her throat.

“That’s why,” Jiya finally said, her voice cracking a little. 

“ _In the Name of Love_ ,” Flynn said quietly. Lucy could barely breath. “And now this.” Flynn gestured weekly at the now black TV screen.

“Wait, are all the movies about us in Salem romances?” Jiya nodded. “And am I always just the black sidekick?” Jiya nodded again, shrugging her shoulders in an apologetic way.

“And usually the comic relief character,” she added, cringing as she said it.

Rufus swore very creatively.

“But why? I mean it was literally a revolt of witches. You’d think that would be the focus. But instead all the movies are lame romances. Isn’t _Love in the Time of Witchcraft_ about them too?” Wyatt was making a good point. It seemed like a silly thing to focus on her and Flynn, complete nobodies in the grand historical scheme of things. But then…

“You introduced me as your wife,” Lucy said quietly, looking up at Flynn. He looked back, his eyes strangely dark, his expression unreadable. 

“ _Yes, my husband and I are from the Old South Church in Boston._ ”

Wyatt made a derisive sound. 

Lucy, suddenly not feeling charitable at all, rounded on him. “It’s better than being introduced as his ‘much older’ sister.” Wyatt was about to snap a reply back, which frankly, at this point, Lucy would have welcomed. She was tired of Wyatt’s passive aggressiveness regarding her…relationship…with Flynn. However, Jiya, seeming to sense the danger signs of a full on blow up between Lucy and Wyatt, quickly interjected. 

“I figured you guys must have gone the husband/wife route as your cover. I mean, why else would they think you guys were together?” Jiya joked. Lucy coughed awkwardly. She suddenly had a vivid memory of the silent communication she’d had with Flynn in Bathsheba’s house, of how truly in tune with her he’d been. Wyatt gave Lucy a funny look but seemed to be placated by Jiya’s insinuation. “Exactly,” he added, just for good measure. “I mean come on, right?” Rufus gave Wyatt some intense side eye. 

Flynn did not seem to react well to the direction of the current conversation. Lucy could practically feel the tension rolling off him. She tried to catch his eye but he seemed to be determinedly avoiding her gaze. Lucy could only watch dejectedly as Flynn walked past her and into the kitchen. Lucy desperately wanted to ask him what was wrong. She stared hard at the back of his head as he stood at the sink, willing herself to be able to read his thoughts through his thick skull (and even thicker hair). 

“I guess that also explains why history and pop culture are so fascinated by you. The man who loved his wife so much he started the Salem Witch Revolt…makes for a great story.” 

There was a loud crash from the kitchen. Flynn had dropped the glass he was filling with water. Before anyone could go look to see if he needed help cleaning up, Flynn reassured them that nothing was broken. His accent still sounded very thick. Lucy barely registered the commotion. Connor’s words had made her feel dizzy. 

_The man who loved his wife so much, he started the Salem Witch Revolt._

Jiya, ever cognizant of the extreme awkwardness the conversation was creating, especially for Lucy and Flynn, continued with the info dump on the group. “There’s actually been a lot of discourse on the subject about how focusing on the love story angle and on Isaiah’s role in the revolt erases the role the women played in it. There’s also been a lot of criticism of how Lucy is portrayed in most pop culture versions as a damsel in distress-”

“Or an evil witch.” Jiya seemed thrown by Lucy’s bitter interjection but soldiered on.

“- when, according to Abby Folger’s personal diary, Lucy was a much more active player in the whole thing. Which, I mean, it’s you Lucy, so, duh. Right?” Jiya was trying very hard for a lighthearted vibe. Bless her. But at least Lucy was pulled out of her own internal downward spiral Connor’s words and Flynn’s reaction had induced by the mention of Abby Folger’s diary.

“Abby wrote about me? In her personal journal?”

“Oh, ya!” Jiya jumped with desperate enthusiasm on Lucy’s interest. “It’s one of the main sources of information about what happened during the revolt.” 

Before Lucy could respond, the distinct sound of a door closing and the shower starting startled them all. Flynn had apparently decided that the movie marathon was over for him. 

“Welp, this has been fascinating and all but I gotta say I agree with Flynn – time to wind things down.” Connor stood up, picked up the bottle of scotch and made his way up the stairs. 

“Oh, ok,” said Jiya. She looked deflated. Lucy felt a twinge of guilt - Jiya had been so excited for the movie marathon. Lucy thought about suggesting that they put in another movie but then Wyatt downed the rest of his beer, got to his feet and followed Connor up the stairs. The party was clearly over. 

Lucy helped Jiya and Rufus clean up a little. Once the dishes had been stacked in the sink and the food had been put away, Jiya and Rufus bid Lucy good night and headed up the stairs as well. 

Lucy didn’t know what to do with herself. She felt exhausted but going to bed did not feel like an option. Flynn had left the bathroom a while ago but he had gone directly into the bedroom after and had not reappeared. Their bedroom. 

_Is_ _it really so upsetting to Flynn that we’re apparently remembered by history as a great love story? Or am I just overreacting?_

Lucy couldn’t deny that the night’s revelations had been extremely uncomfortable for her, especially after seeing stand-ins for her and Flynn engage in, well…

Lucy couldn’t stop herself again from imagining her and Flynn…

Lucy flushed again at the memory of that scene. She felt hot all over. Would Flynn kiss her like that? As though he burned for her? Or would he be softer? More tender?

Lucy shook herself. _Stop it, Flynn is not going to kiss you at all_. She studiously ignored the aching feeling in her heart at the thought.

**Author's Note:**

> Historical note: in 1692, Benjamin Franklin's mother had not yet married his father so in this story Abiah (Abby Franklin in the episode) is referred to by her maiden name, Folger.


End file.
